Improvement in calendar-clocks



H. B. HGRTON.

Calendar Clocke Patented April 18, 1865.

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N. PETERS. Phew Luhagmpuqr. washing( UNTTnn STATES PATaNT @Trier-i.

HENRY B. I 'IORTON, OF ITHACrLhTlnW YORK.

EMPROVEM ENT IN CALENDAR-CLOCKS.

Spcciiication forming part of Letters Patent No. @7.366, dated April 1S, 1865.

T0 @ZZ whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY B. HoRrroN, of Ithaca, in the county of Tompkins and State of New York, have invented an Improved Calendar-Movement for Clocks; and I do hereby declare that the following is an exact description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Figure l is a perspective view. Fig. 2 is my improved year-wheel, Fig, my improved way of changing the lengths of the months. Fig. 4 shows how I move the month-wheel, and Fig. 5 is a top view of my calendar. Fig. 6 is an end view of the week-wheel and parts connected therewith.

My object is to show the day of the month, day of the week, and the month, making the changes instantaneously at midnight, and to hold the several wheels at all times, so that no accidental turning of them can occur and that no ordinary motion of a vessel at sea shall displace them, thus rendering the calendarclock much more perfect than by any former device. This I accomplish as Jfollows:

In Fig. l, A is an eccentric-wheel, liked in or to the time-movement of the clock, revolving once in twenty-four hours. To this is attached the bent rod B, and in a slot, C, made by bending the rod, the shaft of the cam-wheel is embraced, and the wire or rod is so recurved that the upper end, D, is raised and is let fall by the cam-wheel A, thus moving the calendar mechanism at midnight instantaneously. The rod or wire B is continued to the circle E,

where it receives the rod from the month-` wheel. Thence it passes on to the top of thev day-ofthe-week wheel F, where, at G,it makes an abrupt turn over the pawls of that wheel and immediately back again to the line it had before being bent, for the purpose of locking these pawls at certain periods. The rod B then goes down and is fastened to the weightlever It of the day-of-the-week wheel at y, raising that lever and its clicks and producing its changes.

At H is seen the lever that moves the yearwheel O. This is lifted by an eccentric-cam, I, fixed on the shaft of the month-wheel J. The rod L rests on and is moved by this eccentric, and at M joins this lever, and at N the lever has a rod, 3, connecting it with the weight-lever R of the year-wheel O. The wheel I? is the four'year wheel on but loose from the shaft of the month-wheel J. The pointer on the end of the shat'tK moves from one number of the dial to another ofthe month numbers, according to the number of teeth in the month-wheel, which are thirty-one, so that l on the dial corresponds to the first tooth of the month-wheel, and so on to the 28,29, 30, and 3l numbers and the corresponding teeth of the month-wheel.

Fig. 2 shows the movement of the yearwheel O. The lever H, at its end N, when lifted once each month by the cani I on the month-shaft K by the rod Q, draws up the weight-lever It, Fig. 2, so that at the moment previous to the falling of the rod L, Fig. l. off of the cam I simultaneously with upper end of the rod D oiiC of A, Fig. l, the several parts appear as represented by the dotted lines.

When I make a marine calendar-clock, it is necessary to iix the upward movement of the levers Il and R and pawls T and U by the use of springs or cams or flanges on the wheels or other devices, all acting on the principle of the stop or pawl S, or as simple checks of thesea motionandits Contingences, and these I introduce so that each part shall be either checked or restrained so that it cannot be displaced, so that I extend the method of grasping the part as I do the tooth IV, so that no accidental movement can take place.

By the falling of the lever B to its lowest place it moves the year-wheel the distance of one tooth or one month-for example, changes from June to July.

I/Vhen the weight-lever It is down, the stop or rod S has no connection with any tooth of the year-wheel, but hangs free by its upper attachment, s x, and in the guide-block or aperture s y, which acts as a cam-guide when necessary in either ofthe wheels to which it is applied; but as the pawl V is drawn up to move another tooth the rod S comes under whatever tooth is at W, as shown in dotted lines just before the pawls T and U change, and just before the pin or projection .e lifts the pawl U the rod or stop S has fixed the tooth W, and as the pawl U is lifted the pawl V enibraces the other side of the tooth \V, and thus with the pawls T and U xes the year-wheel in such a manner that at no time is it for an instant free from pawls or stops, and thus no mistake can occur in its movements. The day-of-the-week wheel F, Fig. 1, is moved by exactly the same device, the only variations being that the junction of the wire B to the weight lever is at y, Fig. c, and by the rod B, Fig. l, from the cam-wheel A, and the wheel has fouiteen instead of twelve teeth, arrangements that any one can make.

In Fig. 3, Z is the month-cam on the yearwheel. The cams on its surface move the bent rod a by means of the suitable bearingsurface, b, which is the only use of this camdisk, except that the larger cam, c, throws back the bent rod a so that its end d shall clear yet bear upon the February projections of the four-year wheel e c c and e 5v, three of which cause the change to be for twentyeight days, and one, c x, is shorter than the others for twenty-nine days in February in leap-year, which changes are made by means ofthe bent rod a and the cam f, a top view of which is seen at fw. rIhe action of this bent rod and cam is when a blank occurs in the year cam-disk Z, as at z a, the bent rod a does not touch the camf on the month-wheel, and therefore there are thirty-one days in that month. When the cam, as at z b, strikes the bearing-surface b of the bent rod a-,the end of the bent rod g goes under the first tooth, IL, of the cam or slide f at, and thus slides the monthwheel by the thirty-first tooth of the monthwheel, so that that month has but thirty days; and when the cam c on the year-disk Z strikes the bearing b on the bent rod a, the cam c forces the bent rod t outward, so that its end d comes against the tooth c x of the fouryear wheel P, where it rests until the other end, g, of the bent rod a goes under the tooth 11 of the cam f and thus slides the pawl lo, Fig. l, over the thirtieth and thirty-iirst teeth of the month-wheel, making leap-year; and when the month of February comes against either of the projections e e e on the four-year wheel the end, g, ot' the bent rod goes under the tooth j ofthe cam fw, and that month has twenty-eight days.

In Fig. 4 is seen the weight-lever n, to move the month-wheel J, composed, as at J fr, of the long lever bent over the lead weightt and lapping a short distance on the shorter and broader lever o. This weight-lever turns on the shaft of J, and has on its broad member the adjustable pawl i", to which the rod E w comes from the twenty-four hour cam in the time-movement of the clock, through the knot or eye E, Fig. l. 0n the weightlevera is a pin projection, p. The action of the mechanism is, that when drawn up-bythe rod E x a pawl or click behind, and tast to the lever n, catches into a tooth of the monthwheel J, and the pin or projection p lifts the pawl K, and as this is done the pawl m holds the wheel from any backward motion, while the paw or catch s x holds a tooth at the bottom of the wheel from a forward motion,

so that the movements of the month-wheel are at all times fixed by pawls against accidental changes. The pawl or stop s x can be made substantially as S, Fig. 2, and is so made for a marine clock.

When the cam A, Fig. l, releases the rod B at its point D, the whole mechanism and wheel J rotate on the axis z x. It' the month has thirtybne days, the stop t checks the movable pawl i" and the weight-lever stops, so that on the drawing of E w again the upper part ot' i" catches in the tooth one of n and leap-year in the tooth 2 5 and when February has twenty-eight days in tooth 3, in which last case the weight-lever n is seventy-two hours in regaining its full adjustment.

The parts are many of them more clearly seen in the top view, Fig. 5, where they have the same letters as in the other figures.

At X av is the wooden back ot' the clockcase, and through it two pins, zo w, are pnt when the clock is to be transported. The one locks the bent-rod projection G of B, Fig 1, which projection bears on the pawls T and U of the day-of-the-week wheel, and thus that part of the calendar is rendered immovable, and the other locks the long lever H, which rests on the corresponding pawls ot' the monthwheel and makes that immovable, and by the same two pins the pawls m and Z: ofthe monthwheel are secured, so that wheel is also immovable. After transportation these pins are removed, and the calendar is at once in order for use, with no care or time expended to adjust it.

Having described my invention so that those skilled in the art to which it appertains can make and use the same, what I claim as my invention is- 1. The use of the stops or pawls S and s x or other equivalent device, for the purpose of fixing with precision the movements of the month, the day-of-the week, and the year wheels, as described.

2. The levercam f on the month-wheel J, for the purpose of passing the stop or pawl K over the thirty-first tooth of the month-wheel for months of thirty days, and over the thirtieth and thirty-first teeth for February in leap-year, and over the twenty-ninth, thirtieth, and thirty-first teeth of the said wheel when February has twenty-eight days, or otherwise using the said lever-cam f for the same purpose.

3. The detached lever a, for the purpose of changing the length of the months, and of February in leap-yearin a thirty-one-toothedmonth-wheel, and also the detachedleverwhen acting in combination with the lever-cam f of the month-wheel, the cams on the year-disk, and the projections on the four-year wheel.

4. Putting on, but not fixing fast, the fouryear wheel to the shaft of the month-wheel, as described.

5. The wide cam c on the corrugated disk Z of the year-wheel, or its equivalent, for the purpose of carrying the bent-rod lever a on the projections of the four-year wheel.

6. Operating the calendar by the slotting of the rod B about the shaft of the @am A for retaining the rod in its place, and also by the combination of the earn A and rod B, producing the changes of the calendar instantane ously at midnight.

7. Securing by the pin W the double flexion ofthe rod B at G, and thus the pnwls T and U, and also holding the lever H by the other pin w and the pawls under it7 and also by the said pins the pawls m and lr, thereby preventing any displacement of the calendar during transportation.

8. The eliol; 1^, for reducing the labor of bringing up the Weight-lever n during@ period of seventy-two hours or less, according to the distance the lever falls by the length of different months.

HENRY B. BURTON.

Witnesses Y SAMUEL H. WrLooX, JAMES W. SrANsBURY. 

